Denny’s Plans to Charge 5% ‘Obamacare Surcharge,’ Cut Workers Hours

Restaurant owner says 'it's the only alternative'

Florida restaurateur John Metz, who runs approximately 40 Denny’s and owns the Hurricane Grill & Wings franchise, told the Huffington Post he will offset Obamacare by adding a five percent surcharge to customers’ bills and reducing his employees’ hours.

Obamacare requires businesses or franchises with more than 50 workers to provide them all an insurance plan or to pay a penalty of $2,000 for each full-time worker over 30 workers. Obamacare also mandates that only employees working more than 30 hours a week are covered under their employers’ health insurance plan. So Metz plans to pass on the costs and Metz is not alone. Chains like Papa John’s, Olive Garden and Red Lobster are already considering reduced worker hours.

“Obviously, I’d love to cover all our employees,” Metz said. “But to pay $5,000 per employee would cost us $175,000 per restaurant and unfortunately, most of our restaurants don’t make $175,000 a year. I can’t afford it.”

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Applebee’s Franchise Stops Hiring, Blames ObamaCare

Another business cuts hours and hiring due to Obamacare

byZane Tankel is Chairman and CEO of Apple-Metro, an Applebee franchisee that owns over 40 restaurants in the New York metropolitan area. He was quoted on Fox Business News last week saying “We’ve calculated it will [cost] some millions of dollars across our system. So what does that say – that says we won’t build more restaurants. We won’t hire more people.” Tankel said his restaurants employ 80 to 300 people per location and he can’t raise prices in the current environment.

“I’m sure all our people are watching this right now so I don’t want to make any commitments one way or another,” Tankel said. “I want to simply say we’re looking at it. We’re evaluating it. If it’s possible to do without cutting people back I’m delighted to do it. But that also rolls back expansion. It rolls back hiring more people. And in the best case scenario, we only shrink the labor force minimally.”

News of these comments lead to threats of a boycott of Applebee’s on Twitter, with the hashtag “#BoycottApplebees” trending. One user tweeted to the Applebee’s account: “Hey @Applebees, Firing workers for political reasons is WRONG! My family will BOYCOTT YOU until you change your policy!”

Applebee’s International President Mike Archer made clear that Tankel did not speak for the Applebee’s company.

“Recent public comments by one Applebee’s franchisee about the possible implications of the ACA (Affordable Care Act) on jobs within his individual company were not the views or opinions of either Applebee’s or other franchisees, although we respect his right to speak freely as an American,” Archer said in a statement. “Importantly, it is also worth nothing that this franchisee opened a new restaurant last week that created approximately 200 jobs, and will be opening another restaurant next month with a similar number of positions. Applebee’s and our franchisees remain committed to growing our business and providing opportunities for employees in the future.”

“Because final regulations and guidance are still pending from government agencies regarding the Affordable Care Act (ACA), exactly how our franchisees will implement the law when it takes effect in 2014 is still uncertain,” Archer said. “However, we do know that our franchisees will comply fully with the law and take every measure possible to continue doing right by their employees — the lifeblood of their businesses. Applebee’s franchisees have always led their companies as responsible, caring employers, and implementation of the new law will be consistent with that commitment.”

Papa John’s CEO and Mitt Romney supporter John Schnatter said last week that he would likely reduce workers’ hours as a result of the Affordable Care Act.

What’s Obama’s Second Term Means for Small Businesses

Many small business owners watched the presidential election with great interest, some even delaying plans for future expansion, hiring and increasing production depending on the outcome.

By defeating Mitt Romney, President Obama has another four years to lead the country through an economic recovery. During his campaign, Obama stressed the importance of small businesses in the American economy and vowed to limit their tax burdens to help encourage job creation. However, some business owners doubt he will live up to his promises.

One of Mitt Romney’s main speaking points was repealing Obamacare, which he said was killing small businesses. The president’s victory will allow the law to take full effect as scheduled in his second term in office. The changes included in the health care reform law are an employer mandate for businesses with 50 or more employees, and a tax credit for business owner’s contributions toward their employees’ health costs. The president also refused to extend the Bush-era tax cut for high-income earners, a sticking point with Republicans. Lifting these tax cuts will increase the tax burden on roughly 700,000 small businesses.

Obama wants to raise the tax rate on income from investments, which critics say would dissuade wealthy Americans from investing in young businesses. Another point of contention for critics is the corporate tax rate. Under a Romney administration, the tax rate would have dropped to 25 percent. Obama has only promised to go as low as 25 percent. Romney also promised to remove regulations that he said were “strangling” small business owners. With his defeat, all Obama era regulations will continue untouched including the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law and changes to the Sarbanes-Oxley financial reporting law.

Small business owners’ outlook on a second Obama presidency varies. Some have expressed anger and frustration and threatened to take their companies offshore. Other owners agree with his policies and feel it’s only fair and patriotic to pay higher taxes in the name of helping the American economy recover. Only time will tell if Obama’s new policies will help or harm small businesses and if a sharply divided congress will work with him to assist the true job creation engine of our economy.

"While restaurants, with traditionally low profit margins and large numbers of low-skilled, low-wage workers, are exceptionally vulnerable to ObamaCare’s costs, other business are being hit too. For example, Boston Scientific has announced that it will now lay off up to 1,400 workers and shift some jobs to China."

wanna raise price of pizza 14 cents when you charge too damn much for extra toppings anyway...all so Papa don't have to see any dent whatsoever in his profits. obamacare is not what will prevent economic growth, it's these greedy azz executives and business owners.

These people are disgusting. They're attempting to turn their employees not only against Obama, but against black people in general. They know that the amount of contempt these people will have when they're working less hours, or working more hours for less pay.

And Denny's? Their food isnt even good enough to be in on this fck sh*t. They better sit down before they fck around and end up like Hostess.

"While restaurants, with traditionally low profit margins and large numbers of low-skilled, low-wage workers, are exceptionally vulnerable to ObamaCare’s costs, other business are being hit too. For example, Boston Scientific has announced that it will now lay off up to 1,400 workers and shift some jobs to China."

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